Mutual Perceptions of Power in the Countries of the Eurasian Union: A Political and Psychological Analysis

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of mutual perceptions of power in Russia and the other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The purpose of the study is to identify the key features of the image of the power of Russia among residents of the other EAEU countries and the power images of each of these other Union member states among residents of Russia. Toward this end the author highlights the formation of a problematic fi eld of perception of power in the Eurasian space and the adaptation of various theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of its image. The research methodology employed for the article includes focus interviews. To interpret the data, qualitative methods with quantitative elements are used, in particular methods for encoding and scaling answers to open questions. The results of the study make it possible to identify the features of mutual perception of power in the minds of citizens of Russia and countries participating in Eurasian integration, to track the impact of individual political and psychological factors on the formation of images of power, and to record their diff erences among residents of each country separately.

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